Two Hundred Years of Wedding Dresses

It's spring 'down under' and three days ago, I had a short break with the family. We headed to a regional country town in my state called Bendigo.  During the gold rush a lot of money poured out of the Bendigo hills and as a result it has the most beautiful Victorian buildings for a town of its size. Today, Bendigo's economy is heavily underpinned by tourism and they have a very dynamic art gallery director. The current exhibition, all the way from London's Victoria and Albert museum is called 'The White Wedding Dress' and it has dresses dating back more than 200 years. Not all of the dresses are white. Did you know Queen Victoria is responsible for the tradition of the white wedding dress?

I am a sucker for a wedding dress, and in my book Boomerang Bride, Matilda wore a vintage dress. It seemed obvious to me that I had to go this exhibition. My teenage boys were not so certain so I sent them to the science Discovery Centre.

As well as dresses, there were shoes, gloves, bonnets and handbags. The beadwork on some of the dresses was amazing. Some dresses were  over the top for me and others too plain but all were a fascinating snap-shot of their time. I learned all sorts of things including the rise of the 'celebrity' bride. I thought it a recent phenomena but no, it dates  back to the 1900s.

The best way to describe this exhibition and to show you some of the dresses is this You Tube video clip. Enjoy!

Fiona Lowe is an award-winning, multi-published author of romance fiction with Harlequin Mills & Boon and Carina Press.  When she’s not writing stories, she’s a weekend wife, a mother of two boys, and she’s trying really hard to instill in them heroic characteristics like cooking and ironing.  She’s an avid reader, a guardian of 80 rose bushes, attempts to stay fit and is often seen collapsed on the couch with a glass of wine.  She hangs out at Face book, Twitter and loves to hear from readers and writers. This month she has two books out! Boomerang Bride and Career Girl in the Country